Welcome back
by Pottalova
Summary: Michelle and Tony come back to CTU when they discover their company is involved in a terrorist group. Tony, Michelle, Nadia, maybe Chloe, and Tony and Michelle's daughter Hailey. No flames unless you've read the story please!
1. Chapter 1

"Tony!" Michelle Dessler yelled to her husband, "Hurry up! We're going to be late for work!"

"Oh, come on, it's not like there's a national crisis that needs to be averted this morning," he grinned, nonchalantly walking down the stairs and planting a soft kiss on his annoyed wife's lips on his way to the kitchen for some coffee.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we don't have to be on time," She rolled her eyes, trying to hide her own grin. "Hailey! Come on, we've gotta get you to Joanna's."

"Five more minutes!" The three year old called back. Michelle was sure she didn't actually know how long five minutes was, but she must have heard someone say it and just picked it up.

"What are you doing up there?" Michelle asked following the voice to the playroom, where she found her daughter watching one of her favorite Barney tapes.

"Watchin tb," Hailey grinned up at her mother.

"Hailey! Mommy and daddy have to go to work!" Michelle gently lifted her up to her hip and carried her down the stairs, kicking toys out of the way as she went.

"Mommy, why do woo always do dat?" Hailey asked, twisting one of her mother's curls.

"Do what, honey?" Michelle replied, bouncing the little girl up and down as she hopped down the stairs.

When she finished giggling, she asked again, "Woo always bwing me to Joanna's house when woo and daddy go to work. Why can't I go wif woo?"

"You did go, a few months ago, remember?" She shook her head, confused, so Michelle continued, "Mommy and daddy work at that place with lots of computers, remember? You said it was boaring."

"But, I wike compoders! I can play compoder games!" Hailey protested.

"They're not that kind of computers," Michelle explained, setting her down in her chair at the table.

"Do you want strawberries with your cheerios today?" Tony asked, already knowing the answer and cutting them up for her.

"Yesssss!" She shouted, smiling brilliantly at the treat.

"What's that for?" Michelle asked, pouring her coffee.

"If we don't get rid of them soon, they're gonna go bad." He replied, grabbing one of his daughter's Barbie forks and setting them in front of her.

"We really need to get to work," Michelle said just loud enough so her husband could hear, leaning against the counter top and watching Hailey stuff as many strawberries as she could down her throat.

"Oh well," Tony responded, watching his daughter as well as he slowly sipped his coffee from his cubs mug. "What are we gonna miss?"

"Where the hell have you two been?" Their boss yelled angrily at them just as they walked through the door.

"Sorry, sir," Michelle responded politely, "We just--"

"We had a meeting with you two scheduled for this morning!" He bellowed.

"We didn't have a meeting," Tony told him, following Michelle towards their desks.

"Oh, no you don't!" He screamed, re-directing them to his rear office, no one who wasn't in the 'inner loop' of the company was ever allowed to enter. "We had to reschedule the meeting because you two didn't show up. There's ten people in there waiting for you."

"Sorry, sir," Tony followed him into his office, a little surprised by the image that greeted him. There wasn't a meth lab or an apartment, like some people speculated, but a staircase that led down to just another hallway lined with more offices. Briskly, they followed him to one of the side offices, where they were met by about 11 other people they had never seen before, sitting across the desk from their seats.

"Take a seat please, Mr. Almeida and Ms. Dessler." One of the men ordered. After surveying the area, they sat down in the seats he directed them to. "Good. Now, our records show that seven years ago, Mr. Almeida was arrested for treason, is that correct?"

"What is this about?" Tony asked defensively, exchanging a nervous look with Michelle.

"And he did this to save your life, did he not, Ms. Dessler?" The man asked her.

"Yes…" she trailed off.

"Did this leave you with any negative feelings toward your country?" He directed this question to both of them.

"No…" Michelle answered uncomfortably.

"Was that hesitation?" He asked her.

"Of course not," She told him more defiantly this time.

"Well, maybe this will change your mind." He said, handing them each a folder. Under careful scrutiny, they both reviewed the folders, not daring to look up until they were done.

"What do you think?" He asked when he was sure they were both done.

"I don't know," Tony passed them back across the table.

"The two of you know the inner workings of CTU better than anyone we know." A woman explained. "What we have told you is strictly off the record. If you tell anyone anything about what you have witnessed today, there _will be consequences_."

"Think about what we've told you. If you decide you want to know more, let us know," The man stood to shake each of their hands. "It was a pleasure meeting both of you."

To avoid suspicion, for the rest of the day Tony and Michelle did their jobs, just like always, and left at five thirty sharp. Normally, they would head straight to the babysitter's to pick up Hailey, but after driving in that direction for a while, Tony turned to Michelle, "Are we being followed?"

"There's a green yaris that's stayed a few cars back the whole time, but it's still there." Michelle replied, looking behind them. Suddenly, Tony took a sharp turn down a back street and didn't stop speeding, taking sharp turns, and avoiding public streets until they got to CTU.

"I'm Michelle Dessler, this is Tony Almeida, we used to be directors of CTU, and we really need to speak with Agent Jack Bauer immediately." Michelle told the security guard over the intercom when they got there.

For a few minutes, there was just silence on the other end, but finally, he said, "You've been cleared, Jack Bauer isn't here."

"Well where the hell is he?" Tony asked.

After another moment of silence, the guard replied, "We're not sure…"

"Just let us in and we'll figure it out." Tony ordered frustratedly. Almost immediately, the doors opened and two guards escorted them to CTU.

"Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler, I'm Nadia Yassir, acting director of CTU Los Angeles. Is there anything I can help you with?" The pair searched the floor for a familiar face but found no one.

"We have reason to believe that the company we're working for is involved in some sort of terrorist activity." Tony explained, turning to her.

"Follow me up to my office and we can discuss this more privately." She said after pausing to think for a moment.

"What company do you work for?" Nadia asked once they were alone in her office.

"Withers and Gunderson," Michelle offered.

"And what led you to believe they are terrorists?" Nadia dug through her desk to find a pad of paper to write the information on.

"They led us to a back office and was questioning us about our loyalty to the country and our history at CTU," Tony told her, taking a seat across from his old desk, "then we got an Al-Qaeda propaganda packet about the hidden horrors of America and they told us to 'think about what they've told us' and to 'get back to them if we want to know more.'"

"Alright," Nadia scrawled a few notes on the paper, then put it in an empty folder on top of her desk. Standing up as a que for the couple to leave, she said, "Thank you Mr. Almeida, Ms. Dessler."

"Hold on." Tony remained in his seat and signaled for Michelle to do the same, "We worked here. We've each had your job before. We're trained to spot suspicious activity. I don't want this handed to some low level analyst."

"I assure you, we'll do--" Nadia began.

"Don't give me that 'we'll do everything we can' bullshit, I've said it a hundred times and I know what it means." Tony interrupted, "I want to help, they'll trust me. They've already let me in this far, I can get deeper."

Nadia sat and considered for a moment. "Mr. Almeida, you committed treason to this country. I can't just make that go away."

"I was reinstated!" He exclaimed. "Twice!"

"Where's Jack Bauer? Or Chloe O'Brian? Bill Buchanan?" Michelle asked, scanning the room below once again.

"Jack Bauer disappeared after rescuing his nephew from Cheng Zhi, I'm sure you remember him, if I'm not mistaken, you were involved in the case that started this mess for us." Nadia said, shifting papers. "Edgar Stiles was killed a few years ago from a gas attack on CTU. Bill Buchanan resigned about a year ago, and Chloe O'Brian is out on maternity leave.

"I'll talk my superiors about you, but until then, you'll have to wait in a holding cell." Nadia told them, standing once again.

"Thank you," Michelle smiled, "but do you mind if I make a phone call?"

"Sure, station 14." Nadia pointed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to all my reviewers!!!!**

**Tony24Michelle: Thanks for telling me, I wouldn't have even noticed if you didn't say anything but it's a good thing you did tell me because it defiantly wouldn't have made sense for Nina to suddenly randomly be in the story.**

**Tigerlily Brown: Thank you for reviewing!**

**tonyandmichelle4ever: Thanks. And PS, FUNKY is and AMAZING word. I think I might steal it if you don't mind.**

**saturn567: Thank you! Hailey isn't in this chapter as much… and she won't really be in any for a few chapters, but she'll be back, I promise.**

**TonyMichelleLoveYou: Thank you so much! I love Tony and Michelle too. They shouldn't have died, but that kinda goes without saying.**

**laura sedai: Thank you. In this story, I'm not having it be that what happened in season five did or didn't happen, it just kind of half happened. After the car crash, Tony protected her from the second explosion and they were both sent to the hospital and weren't able to leave to get back in time to help with the stuff in day 5. If you think about it, that makes a little more sense (at least with Tony) because in the show, its totally understandable that they bring characters back because a lot of the main characters can't just be cut out of the whole season because of something that happens at the beginning, but if someone is seriously injured like that, they're not gonna go back to work a few hours later, especially not dealing with the high-stress work at CTU with no sleep.**

**Disclaimer: Own like three characters in this whole story so far. Well, plus the bad guys. Everything else is whoever invented 24's.**

"Molly?" Michelle asked the receiver, "It's Michelle Almeida, Hailey's mom. Normally, I wouldn't ask this, but, would you mind keeping Hailey for a couple extra hours? Something came up at work and Tony and I won't be able to leave for a while." She paused, listening to what her babysitter had to say, then continued, "Thank you so much. If we're here past eight could you just put her to sleep? Thank you. Okay. Bye."

"What should we do until she gets back?" Tony asked.

"I wish we could get on the computers." Michelle responded, "But we don't have the clearance. After everything we've done, we don't have even level one clearance!"

"Its okay, honey," Tony comforted his wife, "we can just wait here."

A few minutes later, Nadia came down stairs and said, "You were cleared by the President of the United States. You must really have friends in high places."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you work with Jack Bauer for as long as we did." Tony explained, waiting for her to continue.

"You'll both have to go into the field to start out--" Nadia began.

"No." Tony interrupted.

"What?" Nadia asked, "I thought that's what you wanted."

"Michelle isn't going into the field. If I go, I go alone." He argued stubbornly.

"Tony…" Michelle tried to reason with him.

"No! Remember what happened last time you went into the field?" Tony questioned angrily.

"You can't go alone," Nadia stated, "they won't believe you, and you know it."

"Tony, I'll be okay," Michelle said comfortably, "but I'm going, and you know you can't stop me."

"I just--" Tony started.

"I know." Michelle gently rubbed his arm to try to calm him, then turned back to Nadia. "What do you want us to do?"

"Michelle, you'll have a listening device on so the agents outside can hear what's going on and will know when to move in if there's trouble." Nadia explained, leading them to her office. "You'll have to act as if you've gone home, discussed it, and decided that you want to help them."

"All right," Michelle nodded, "we're ready."

Twenty minutes later, they were back at work, heading, once again, into their boss's office. "Tony, Michelle, it's nice to see you again. Please, come with me into my office. Have you considered my offer?"

"Actually, we have, sir. We've decided we'll take the offer." Michelle smiled as he led them down the stairs.

"There still is, of course, the topic of payment that me have yet to discuss." He smiled back.

"Of course," Tony agreed, "and what exactly we'll be expected to do."

"Of course," he replied, opening the door to the room they were brought the first time.

"Ms. Dessler, Mr. Almeida. You've come at a rather inconvenient time. We have something scheduled in just a few minutes. We'll have to make this quick." One of the women greeted them warmly. "Have you made your decision yet?"

"We think so." Michelle said, smiling back at them, "we talked it over and decided we'll help you with your cause."

"After everything they've done…" Tony trailed off, pretending he was angry.

"Well, if you had decided you wanted to join in our cause, your salary would have been tripled." She told them, shuffling papers.

"If we had?" Tony asked, "We just said we were going to."

"Fine then." She gently folded her hands in front of her. "I just have one question before we begin."

"What's that?" Michelle's hands began shaking slightly, but she hid them easily under the table and no one but Tony noticed, and he gently grabbed one of them and squeezed a bit, calming her down.

"Do you think we're stupid?"

"What?" Tony shook his head, a little surprised.

"There was a tracker on your car." She explained, glaring at them scathingly. "We wouldn't have told you that and just let you go. The minute you were out of sight, you went right to CTU. If I'm not very much mistaken, you're here right now on their orders." Slowly, one of the men at her side pulled a gun out of a briefcase on the table.

Without thinking, Tony immediately stepped in front of his wife, guarding her from him. Before the man had a chance to shoot them, CTU agents burst through the door. "Put your hands where I can see them!" one of them ordered the people behind the table, not taking his eyes off the men and women behind the desk. Pulling out their guns, Tony and Michelle ducked behind the door. As the men and woman began standing up and raising their hands. A single bullet shattered the window and hit one of the agents towards the front in the head. Almost instantly, he slumped to the floor, dead.

"Damnit!" Tony exclaimed, running to the other side of the door to get a better shot at the sniper. As he did, two more agents were killed by the sniper in another office, leaving only three in the room. "Get down!" Tony ordered, but he was too slow and another agent was shot down. Angrily, he pointed his gun through the window and shot across the hall towards the sniper. When he was out of bullets, he ducked down to re-load the gun and one of the other agents shot the sniper. "We gotta get out of here."

Still ducking down with their guns, Tony and Michelle followed the two remaining CTU field agents out of the building and into a van that took them back to CTU.

On the other side of the country, the president was getting in his car to go to the airport and fly to Los Angeles when suddenly, a loud bang seemed to make time stop for a few seconds, until one of the secret service grabbed his collar to say into his radio, "He's down, I repeat, President Palmer has been shot."

"They didn't believe us." Michelle told Nadia when they got back.

"What happened to the other agents?" She asked, looking behind them.

"A sniper shot them down." Tony explained, "The four of us are the only ones that made it."

"The Director of Field Ops. is one of the missing agents that must have been killed." Nadia said, turning to Tony, "I want you to take over for him. You remember where the office is?"

"Uh, yeah," Tony was a bit shocked by the statement.

"I'm next in line!" One of the field agents complained from behind them.

"I don't care." Nadia glared at him, "Tony has experience as head of Tactical. He's much more qualified. He's got the job. Any other complaints?" No one who might have one dared to say anything. "Good. Tony and Michelle, meet me in the conference room in five minutes."

When everyone was ready, Nadia began, "Ten minutes ago, the president was shot." It took a few minutes for everyone to quiet, then she continued. "Luckily, the bullet passed through his shoulder. Tom Lennox is giving a statement to the press in twenty minutes."

"What do we know about the shooter?" A woman asked.

"An unidentified man about 5' 11" was seen on the surveillance videos acting suspiciously, but he had his back to the camera during the shooting. Washington PD are pursuing him now." She said, "Morris, I need you to try and match the face of the man on the surveillance tapes. Sanders and some other agents were killed by a sniper there earlier today, so Tony is taking his place. Tony, I need to send some men back to Withers and Gunderson to cleanup. Have them bring back anyone who may be involved. Any questions?" No one said anything, so she continued, "Good, let's get to work."

"Tony!" The woman who asked the question called after the meeting. Tony and Michelle turned her. "I just wanted to introduce myself since we'll be working together. I'm Selene Wendell, head of Tactical."

"Tony Almeida." He shook her hand, mentally surveying her, "This is my wife, Michelle Dessler."

"Nice to meet you both." Selene smiled at them, then turned to her office.

"That was weird." Michelle whispered when she was out of earshot.

"We'll keep an eye on her." Tony agreed, and then they turned back to work.

"Nadia!" Morris called from across the room.

"What have you got, Morris?" Nadia asked impatiently.

"I got a possible ID for the shooter." He said, "Brandon Yates, 35 years old. His face matched the photos I pulled from the surveillance videos."

"I want everything you can get on this guy. Background, family, schooling, bank records--"

"Already got it." He interrupted. "Last week, there was a five thousand dollar deposit by…"

"Withers and Gunderson," She read off his screen. "But why would they do that? It must be some sort of trick or something. It can't be that easy!"

"Unless they want us to know it was then." Michelle cut in, walking over to them, "It wasn't a random attack. They might not have even intended to kill him. It was a threat, and they knew we'd find out they were connected."


	3. Chapter 3

**laura sedai: Thank you so much!  
**

**tonyandmichelle4ever: Thanks! I can't figure out what tochelle sprog is though, Tony and Michelle for the tochelle part, but what's sprog?**

**LostBluePhantom: Thank you!**

**Saturn567: Thanks! Yeah, I shot President Palmer, he's gonna be okay, but I'll just let you read the chapter cus it explains it**

**Disclaimer: Pretty much everything belongs to fox. Not me. **

"A half and hour ago, there was an attempt on President Palmer's life." Tom told the press. "The President has retained minor injuries as a result of the attempt but will be back to leading the country within the hour. We will not let this attack slow us down. The president's security has been tripled and he will fly to Los Angeles as soon as the doctor allows him to."

"Is there any word the attacker?" One of the reporters asked.

"We have reason to believe that the attack was made by a terrorist group within the country working with Al-Qaeda." He shifted uncomfortably. "However, our agents have assured me it will be taken care of."

"What sort of injuries does the president have as a result of this attack?" Another reporter looked up to the podium where Tom stood, pen and paper ready.

"The bullet went through his shoulder and tore through a few ligaments, so he'll be in a sling for a while and might need some surgery, but he'll be okay." Tom explained. "I'm sorry, but that's all I have time for today, excuse me."

As he left, the reporters called after him, "Tom! Mr. Lennox! Mr. Lennox!" But he just ignored them.

XXXXX

"Brandon Yates is dead." Nadia sighed, joining Morris and Michelle at Morris's station.

"What?" Michelle asked. "How?"

"Washington PD followed him to an abandon warehouse and found him with a bullet in his head." She explained.

"So he killed himself." Morris stated.

"Nope, his gun was fastened in his belt." Nadia said. "Someone else must have met him there, killed him, and fled the scene."

"Why?" Michelle asked, "It doesn't make sense! If they wanted us to know it was them, what harm could it have done to keep him alive?"

"Maybe he knew something…" Nadia trailed off, thinking.

"I want to know who killed him and why." Selene cut in, leaning in behind them to read the report.

"Call Washington PD and tell them to keep following whoever shot Yates." Nadia ordered Selene, "If they find him, have them send them here in a helicopter. I want to know what is going on over there."

"Did you see what Tom Lennox said in his statement to the country?" Tony asked the group as Selene was leaving.

"I was going to go check it a second ago, but something came up. Why?" Nadia questioned, "Did something happen."

"Come on." Tony said as Michelle and Nadia curiously followed him to his office, where he replayed the clip from the news.

"This isn't gonna go over well." Michelle crossed her arms, thinking.

"What do you mean? We couldn't keep the attempted assassination of the President of the United States a secret!" Nadia exclaimed, taking a seat.

"He didn't have to say that there are people in the United States working for Al-Qaeda in the same press conference." Tony explained.

"Everyone already knows that." She stated.

"Yes, but they didn't have to know that they were involved in an attempt on the president's life." Michelle responded.

Nadia was silent for a few moments, thinking, until she finally asked, "What was your boss's name at Withers and Gunderson?"

"Mark Rosenburg." Tony answered.

"The one that pulled you into the back office this morning?" She demanded.

"Yes," Michelle replied.

"Michelle, I need you to find out anything you can about him." Nadia ordered. "Was there anyone else that you recognized?"

"No." They chorused.

"Fine," Nadia nodded, "Get that information to me as soon as possible, Michelle. Tony, any word from the field agents?"

"They just got in." He reported. "The people who work at the office were confused, but they said everything else seemed normal. That's just their first impression, though. They're working on a more thorough investigation as we speak."

"Good. Good." Nadia thought out loud, leaving the conference room. "Let me know when you know more."

"Alright," Tony called after her.

"Hey," Michelle looked up to her husband once Nadia was gone. "Are you all right with this?"

"Of course not," he sat down across from her. "But we can't just leave."

"You're right." Michelle agreed, leaving for her station to look up Mark Rosenburg.

XXXXX

"Nadia! We've got a problem." Selene called to her.

"What is it, Selene?" Nadia asked, not really paying attention to her as she followed her into her office, reading a report.

"Watch this." Selene said, bringing fox news up on the monitor.

"We can't help but link these attacks on Muslim Americans to the conference earlier tonight," a reporter articulated as violent crime scenes flashed across the screen, "when a representative of President Palmer connected the attacks to Americans working for Al-Qaeda."

When she saw the pained look on Nadia's face, she turned off the screen. "I'm sorry." She muttered, "I shouldn't have--"

"No," Nadia croaked, "It's okay. I have to know these things."

"Are you going to be alright?" She asked compassionately, "I know it might bring back a few bad memories."

"I'll be fine." Nadia wiped her eyes distractedly. "We've got to get back to work."

XXXXX

"Selene!" One of the field agents who stayed behind called when he saw her leave her office for a moment.

"What do you want?" She hissed, shoving him into an empty hallway where they could talk privately.

"I just thought—I don't know," He shifted uncomfortably, "that we should talk or something."

"John!" she rubbed her forehead frustratedly, "Last night was nothing! It was a mistake! An accident! Please don't make a big deal out of it!"

"Are you kidding?" He asked, cornering her so she couldn't leave, "Last night was amazing. And you felt something, I know it!"

"I don't get involved with coworkers." She squirmed, trying to get away, "And I don't have time for a relationship right now. So please, just let me get back to work."

"Not until you tell me the truth." He crossed his arms stubbornly, "So either tell me you felt something or, Selene Wendell, look me in the eyes and tell me you feel nothing."

"John, come on!" She exclaimed, looking for a way to escape past him.

"Selene!" He refused to move and continued to stare down at her.

"Fine," Selene looked up into his eyes defiantly, "I felt nothing." Shocked, he didn't move for a moment, so she had to gently push him to the side. "Excuse me." Once she was out of sight, she collapsed into a chair at a nearby station and buried her head in her hands.

Suddenly, the phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. "Selene Wendell." She droned.

"Can you please patch me through to Nadia?" A male voice asked on the other end.

"Who is this?" She inquired, rubbing her temples.

"Mike Doyle." He replied.

"We're in the middle of something at the moment, can this wait?" Selene questioned.

"No," he responded, "It's a family emergency."

"One moment please." She stated, sounding like a receptionist as she put him on hold. "Nadia," Selene called, poking her head into her boss's office, "Doyle is on line three for you."

"Tell him I'll call him back." Nadia ordered, typing on her computer.

"He said it's urgent." She stated, closing the door before Nadia could say anything else.

Rolling her eyes, she picked up the phone. "Doyle! You can't come in! You're blind in one eye! Please stop calling me at work!"

"Nadia! Wait! That's not why I'm calling!" He exclaimed, trying to keep her from hanging up.

"What is it?" She asked softly after a moment, clicking the keys of the keyboard in the background

"It's your parents." Doyle stated.

"My parents?" She stopped everything she was doing to listen, "What about my parents?"

"Someone burned down their house." He responded slowly, "I've been watching the news, there's been attacks all over."

"Are they all right?" Nadia prodded, afraid of the answer.

"Your mom is going to be fine. She's badly burned, but she's stable." He chose his words carefully.

"What about my dad?" She asked, shaking. When there was no response, she yelled into the receiver, "DOYLE!"

"He didn't make it."

"No!" She cried.


	4. Chapter 4

**LostBluePhantom: No, she's not. She's just gonna go home.**

**laura sedai: (And anyone else who's curious about Doyle) In my story, Doyle went blind in one eye from the explosion-thingy when he was turning over Josh and is now living with Nadia, but he can't work at CTU anymore because of his eye.**

**Cchelle: Thanks, me too. They should never have died in the first place.**

**Tigerlily Brown: Thanks! And there is sort of a Doyle/Nadia thing, but it's more already going on and not really developing much during the story.**

**Disclaimer****: Nothing is mine.**

"Nadia, I've got that information you wanted on Mark Rosenburg." Michelle said, distractedly shuffling papers. When she didn't hear a response, she looked up and found Nadia crying at her desk. "Oh my God, Nadia, what happened?"

"Don't worry," Nadia stood bravely, taking the files from Michelle. "I'll be fine."

On her way out the door, Michelle hesitated. "Nadia, I've worked with CTU for a long time. One thing that I've learned is that if there's something distracting going on, you either have to make it go away or step down." Nadia was silent, "If you don't, it could ruin the whole operation. I've seen it happen and I've had it happen to me. Today is not the day for the director of CTU to be distracted."

"I'll think about it." Nadia whispered.

"Good." Michelle smiled encouragingly, "try to make your decision soon, though."

As soon as she shut the door behind her, Michelle immediately went to Tony's office. When she walked in, he was still on the phone, so she silently took a seat across from him.

"Well, bring them back anyway," he ordered the receiver, "we might be able to get something off of them." After a moment's pause, he said, "listen, I gotta go. Yup. Bye."

"Something's wrong." Michelle told him when he hung up.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"When I dropped those reports on Mike Rosenburg off in her office, she was a mess." Michelle explained. "She was crying in on her desk and she probably still hasn't even looked at them."

"Do you think she'll be able to do her job?" He questioned.

"As your coworker, I think she'll be able to do her job." Michelle admitted, "But as your wife…"

"You don't think so." Tony finished for her.

"I told her I thought she should go home." She frowned. "But if she doesn't, I don't think she'll be able to lead CTU through this."

"Should I go talk to her?" He asked.

"Give her a couple minutes." Michelle suggested, "If she doesn't decide by then, then you can."

"Fine," Tony agreed, then changed the subject. "That was one of my field agents. Most of the stuff we could use is destroyed, but we might still be able to get some information off the computers."

"They're bringing them back then?" she questioned.

"Yup."

"Great," Michelle slowly made her way to the door, "I'll be back in a little while, I'm working on a lead on Mike Rosenburg that I found when I was going through them this morning."

As Michelle made her way down to her station, she heard a feminine voice talking on a phone in the hallway next to her. "Okay, I'm alone. It's a secure line." Curious, Michelle hid behind the wall so she could hear what she was saying. "Sanders is dead. Someone who just came in took his job. Tony Almeida." Michelle couldn't make out what the deep male voice was saying on the other end. "You know him?" The woman asked. He mumbled something on the other end and she replied, "She's here too. They came in this morning with a possible threat from the company they worked for, Withers and Gunderson."

She paused, listening, then continued, "Nadia's not doing well. Doyle called her earlier, she thought I hung up when I patched him in, but I listened in." She hesitated for a minute, "He called to tell her that her father died. It was probably one of those attacks because of their religion. Have you seen the news?" The man on the other end muttered a reply. "They think Brandon Yates was the man who attempted to kill President Palmer, but he's dead. They're also looking into Tony and Michelle's boss, Mike Rosenburg, who they know was involved in some sort of terrorist activity from the corporation." She listened for a moment, then replied, "I think I'll be able to, she trusts me, but it's hard to say." After a short pause, she said, "No, there's nothing else. No, no one suspects me. I'm fine. Bye." Silently, Michelle watched as Selene walked around the corner and headed to Nadia's office.

"Nadia," Selene murmered, rushing over to hug her friend. "What happened?"

"I'm fine." She replied, leaning over a folder. "Why?"

"Nadia," Selene put her hands on her hips and looked down at Nadia, "You can't fool me. I know you've been crying."

"How?"

"Your eyes are red and puffy. Plus your mascara looks horrible." She gently rubbed under Nadia's eyes to rub away smudged makeup. "What's going on?"

"It's my dad. He's dead. I don't really want to talk about it." Pushing it out of her mind, she went back a report from the police. "According to the autopsy, Brandon Yates was killed in a shooting, but they didn't tell me anything about hearing shots fired when they told me the first time."

"Nadia! You can't just put this off!" Selene exclaimed. "Something horrible just happened. I love ya to death, but if you're not fit to run CTU than I have to take over."

"I need to keep busy." Nadia looked up, "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Can you try to keep busy with something besides national security?" Selene asked, getting up to leave. Dejectedly, she walked towards the door, but Nadia stopped her.

"Fine." She called to her, "I need twenty minutes to finish up and get my stuff together."

Smiling, Selene turned back to her friend. "Thanks."

From her station, Michelle watched as Selene left Nadia's office, flipped open her phone, and said into it, "She'll be gone in twenty minutes."

Grabbing a random file from her desk, Michelle ran up the stairs to Tony's office. "Tony, I think Selene might be a mole."

"Why?" Tony asked.

"When I was leaving your office, I heard her reporting what's going on here to someone on a phone, and she said no one suspects her. The man on the other end told her to do something and she said 'I think I'll be able to, she trusts me'." Michelle explained, "She went straight to Nadia's office, then when she left, she called someone and said 'she'll be gone in twenty minutes.'"

"Michelle, maybe we should get to know everyone a little before we start accusing them of being moles." He argued.

"Maybe it's because we don't know her that we can tell." She urged, "Tony, I don't know how, but whoever she was talking to knows us."

"So, what? Are we thinking they're from Withers and Gunderson or something?"

"She's second in command. If Nadia's leaving because of her father…." Michelle trailed off.

"Then Selene will become acting director of CTU." Tony finished for her. "What do we do?"

"I don't know, but we need to talk to Nadia before we do anything." Michelle reminded him.

Without wasting any time, Tony picked up the phone and dialed Nadia's number, then put it on speaker phone so Michelle would know what's going on. "Yassir." Nadia answered.

"Nadia? It's Tony and Michelle." Tony replied, "We need to talk to you about Selene Wendell. We have reason to believe she's a mole."

"Selene? That's impossible!" Nadia exclaimed, "I've known her since she started here! She can't be!"

"I overheard several phone calls between Selene and someone we haven't been able to identify reporting on what's going here." Michelle cut in, "When she left your office, she told that person 'she'll be gone in twenty minutes.'"

Nadia was silent for a minute, then asked softly, "She said that?"

"Yes, and one of the phone calls made it sound like whoever she was talking to knew Michelle and I." Tony explained, "Which leads us to believe that they work in some way for Withers and Gunderson."

"So she may be involved in the assassination attempt?" Nadia asked.

"We believe she is." Michelle stated.

"Fine," Nadia gave in, "Take her in for questioning. I want you to find out what she knows. And Michelle?"

"Yes?" Michelle questioned, awaiting her orders.

"I am leaving as soon as I'm packed up and have finished looking into this lead," Nadia said quietly, "I want you to take my place."

Michelle exchanged a surprised glance with Tony, then agreed, "All right."

As soon as he hung up with Nadia, Tony picked the phone back up and dialed the number for security, "Bring Selene Wendell to holding room 3." He ordered, then hung up and looked back up at his wife. "Are you okay with this?"

"With what?" She inquired, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Being head of CTU or just being here."

"Well," he thought for a moment, "both."

"I'm about as okay with it as you are." Michelle shrugged. "I remember what happened last time we tried to get involved with CTU, too."

Suddenly, Tony's phone rang. "Almeida."

"Ms. Wendell is ready," the guard on the other end replied.

"Thanks." He muttered, hanging up, then turned to Michelle, "She's ready, lets go."


	5. Chapter 5

**Tigerlily Brown: Yeah, sorry. I needed her gone so Michelle could take her place.**

**LostBluePhantom: Sorry, I was gonna have her go psycho, but I got too excited about what's gonna happen in the next chapter. (Not this one, even though some major stuff happens, the next one.)**

**saturn567: I agree, but I needed her gone and it worked.**

**laura sedai: No, I think Nadia's pretty much gone. Thanks, they never should have died in the first place.**

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is kinda short. It was pretty much full and I have the next one all planned out, so I didn't want to take anything from it. Make sure everybody reads & reviews this chapter and the next one. Especially the next one because it's gonna be GREATTTTTTT**

**Disclaimer****: I hate disclaimers. They're stupid. But 24 still isn't mine.**

"Here's the background file on Selene." Michelle passed it off to her husband as he pushed open the door to the interrogation room.

"Who were you talking to before and after you left Nadia's office a few minutes ago?" Tony questioned, taking the seat across from Selene.

"That's none of your business!" She exclaimed from behind the table. "It was a personal call!"

"So, do you always tell people what's going on at CTU in personal calls?" He interrogated. "Come on, Selene! We don't have time for this! Just tell us what we want to know!"

Selene just sat there, silent, so Tony turned the mike around and ordered into it, "Send in Burke!"

Five minutes later, the interrogator carried his pack of torture devices into the room. "Selene, don't make me do this." Tony pleaded as she stared defiantly into his eyes. After a while, he finally muttered, "go." to Burke. Within seconds, Selene was screaming.

"Who was behind the assassination attempt on President Palmer?" he asked.

"I don't know!" She cried, forcing Burke to inject more toxins into her arm.

"Who were you talking to on the phone?" Tony questioned. At first, Selene hesitated. "Selene!" Tony screamed.

"Fine, but I'm only talking to you and Michelle. And I want any video or audio feeds turned off."

"Fine." He agreed, signaling for his wife, who was on the other side of the wall, watching, to come in.

Once Burke was out of the room, everything was turned off, and only Tony and Michelle could hear Selene, she stalled for as long as she could until finally, Tony yelled, "Selene! Who were you talking to!?"

"I was talking," she exhaled deeply, "to Jack Bauer."

"What!?" Tony and Michelle yelled in unison.

Not believing her, Tony and Michelle called Burke back in to interrogate her while they went through her file. "Guess who got her the job at CTU?" Michelle asked, taking a sheet of paper out, "Her uncle, the former Secretary of Defense."

"Wait, so she's Audrey's cousin?" Tony questioned, standing.

"We'd better stop the interrogation." Michelle advised, following him back into the room, where Selene was now drenched in sweat and pleading for him to stop. "Burke! Stop!" Michelle yelled.

Reluctantly, he backed off. "I didn't get anything else out of her."

"That's okay." Michelle said, taking off the restraints, "We just need to talk to her now."

"When did you meet Jack Bauer?" Tony questioned.

"He grabbed me once when I was leaving my cousin's house." She rubbed her head exhaustedly.

"And that sounds like something that would make me trust someone enough to commit treason, too." He continued. At the sound of the word 'treason', she stiffened, so he comforted her, "Its okay, we're not gonna prosecute, I wouldn't put you through that."

"When I was little, my parents were going through a rough divorce. I spent most of my time at Audrey's house. We were practically sisters." Selene explained. "When she thought he died, she was devastated. I even went with her to his funeral. Then, in one day, he wasn't dead anymore, just missing. That was almost worse than him being dead. At least when he was dead, she was working on moving on. Over the years, I've seen so many pictures and heard so many stories about him, the minute I saw him I knew who he was and I knew I could trust him with my life."

"What does Jack know?" Tony asked quietly.

"He got some stuff off the computers before you got there." She ran her fingers through her sweat soaked hair, "Something about a gas bomb or something. I don't know all the details, but there's a remote controller of some kind he's going after now."

"Wait!" Tony inquired, "How the hell did he get all this off the computer before our people even got there?"

"Tony," Michelle smirked, shaking her head, "This is Jack we're talking about. Who do you think got the information off the computers faster than anyone we've got."

"Chloe." He grinned.

"Selene," Michelle asked, helping her through the door, "Are you ready to go back to work?" Selene thought for a moment, then nodded eagerly, so as they got back into the main area of CTU, Michelle yelled across the floor, "Selene Wendell is being reinstated as director of field ops. Somebody get me Chloe O'Brian on the line."

"Selene!" John breathed, coming to her side and wrapping his arms around her when she got back into her office. "Are you all right?"

Annoyed, she shrugged him off. "I'm fine. Get back to work."

"You don't look all right." He gently pealed the hair caked to her forehead off and pushed it back.

At his touch, she flinched. "Don't you get it? There isn't anything between us! Why do you care, anyway?"

Firmly holding her shoulders and looking her straight in the eyes, he replied, "I don't know." Slowly, her expression softened and she sank exhaustedly into his arms.

"Chloe, it's Morris." Morris told her over the phone, "We've got a problem."

"What is it, Morris, I'm kinda busy." She said, annoyed.

"I know, but the director of CTU wants to talk to you. She just got out of interrogating Selene." He watched Tony and Michelle out of the corner of his eye to make sure they wouldn't get close enough to hear.

"Just tell her you couldn't get a hold of me of me or something." Chloe ordered, "I don't have time to deal with Nadia right now. If it's really important, I'll call her back later."

"Chloe," Morris sighed, "Nadia is gone. Michelle Dessler took her place."

Chloe was silent for a moment, thinking, then whispered, "Put me through."

Shaking his head, Morris punched a couple buttons on his phone, then grumbled to Michelle, "Chloe O'Brian is on line 1."

"Thanks," She muttered, then pressed the picked up the phone to talk to Chloe. "Chloe?"

"Yeah, Michelle, it's me."

"What do you have so far?" Michelle asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Chloe stated.

"Yes, you do." Michelle smiled, "Just tell me."

"I'm just staying home, taking care of my son." Chloe lied.

"Chloe, I know you better than that." Michelle reminded her. "I know you're working with Jack and I know that you got information about some kind of gas bomb off the computers at Withers and Gunderson. What is going on?"

"Michelle, every time something like this happens, there's a mole in CTU." Chloe acknowledged, "I'm not turning over our information."

"I'll keep it between Tony and I," Michelle promised, "and you _know_ we're not the moles."

"Fine," Chloe agreed grudgingly, "But tell Selene and Morris what you find out, too."

"Are you sure we can trust them?" She questioned.

"Well, Morris is the father of my son, so I think I trust him." Chloe blinked irritatedly.

"And Selene?"

"I don't know, but Jack trusts her, and I trust Jack." Chloe replied.

"Okay, so what do you know?" Michelle urged.

"The terrorists are working under a man named Alejandro Quintanilla and are in possession of a Necrotoxin bomb, which kill cells they encounter and destroy tissue." Chloe reported. "Somehow, they've found a way to transmit it through the air and have some sort of remote control at 4132 Mulewood drive. That's all we have so far."

"Great, thanks." Michelle carefully wrote everything down. "I'll send a team out there to pick it up now."  
"Michelle! No!" Chloe yelled over the phone, "They'll see a team coming. Jack is on his way now to go alone."

Uncertainly, Michelle juggled her options, "Fine, I won't send a team, but I am sending a few people to back him up."

"Fine," Chloe agreed, "you can send two."


	6. Chapter 6

**Tigerlily Brown: Yeah, and wait till you see who else is helping them… (It's not in this chapter, though, it won't be for a couple)**

**LostBluePhantom: Has there ever been a season when he's not? Plus, everyone always says 'this time there will be consequences' but there never really is.**

**laura sedai: You also have to remember that she's the former secretary of defense's niece. You can't bring up charges and torture the niece of the former secretary of defense with evidence much more concrete than someone overhearing a phone call.**

**Cchelle: In a crisis, America pretty much needs Jack and Chloe, especially Chloe, or nothing would get done. Having Tony and Michelle would help a lot, but they havn't worked at CTU for a while, so Jack and Chloe were pretty much a necessity. **

**MnTluva4eva: Thanks!**

"Wendell," Selene absently picked up the phone, trying to catch up on what happened while she was gone.

"Selene, it's Michelle." She replied, "I just got off the phone with Chloe. I need you to send Tony and one other agent that you can trust to 4132 Mulewood Drive. They'll meet Jack there."

"But--" Selene argued.

"Just send them, Selene." Michelle ordered.

For a second, Selene struggled with the order, but finally she muttered, "Fine."

Without thinking, she picked the phone back up to call John as the agent she could trust, but before she called him, she reconsidered. When she thought about it, however, she realized that there was no other agent who had better proven himself and who she trusted more.

"Esposito." He answered.

"John, it's me." She told him, biting her tongue when she realized she had, once again, made it sound like their relationship was more than it was.

"Selene," he exclaimed, surprised, then stuttered, "w-what can I do for you?"

"I need you and Tony Almeida to meet someone at a private residence on the outskirts of town." She directed.

"Fine," he responded, "Who are we meeting?"

"Jack Bauer…" She hesitated.

"Jack Bauer??" John asked, shocked, "_the_ Jack Bauer?"

"Yes, Tony will fill you in."

"What's the address?" He questioned.

"4132 Mulewood Drive." She stated, "Anything else?"

"No." He replied, writing down the address.

"Good," before she even finished speaking, she hung up the phone. Turning away from the windows, she wiped her face with her hands and shook her head distractedly.

On the way to meet Jack, John and Tony didn't really have much to talk about. "So," John said conversationally, "who's Jack Bauer."

"He's an old friend." Tony sighed, "I haven't seen him in a while. He disappeared a couple months ago. He does that sometimes."

Slowly, John nodded, trying to think of what to say next, "Nice day today."

"Yeah," Tony rolled his eyes at the small talk. "Just like every other day in Los Angeles."

For the rest of the car ride, they were mostly silent. When they reached their destination, John pulled out his gun and carefully stepped out of the SUV. "Wait!" Tony hissed, but there was already a gun pressed to the back of his head.

"Drop the gun, slowly, put your hands behind your head and interlock your fingers." A deep voice ordered from behind him.

Nervously, he did as he was told, "I'm John Esposito with the Counter Terrorist--"

"Jack," Tony interrupted, "It's alright, he's with me. Michelle sent us from CTU."

"Tony?" Jack asked, leaving his gun pointed at John's head, "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are. Chloe sent us." He explained, slowly coming around the car so his friend could see his face.

"What?" Jack questioned, "Why would she do that?"

"Probably because she knows you can't do this all alone, Jack." Tony grinned. "You need CTU."

"You know what we're doing here?" He asked, signaling for John to get in front of him while he brought Tony towards the back door.

"Looking for the remote, right?" John butted in.

"If we see it, great." Jack replied in a hushed voice, "But this is just recon."

Slowly, they worked their way into the house, where they found two boys playing their Gameboys with little girls sleeping on the couches next to them. For a while, they searched the house as quietly as possible, trying not to let the boys hear them, but it soon became clear that they weren't going to find anything anywhere else, so Tony agreed to distract them while Jack and John continued the search.

"Hey, boys," He said uncomfortably, "what are you playing, gameboys?"

"It's a DS." One of them rolled their eyes rudely.

"Oh, sorry," Tony mumbled.

"Are you here to see papá?" The younger one asked. Tony nodded, so the little boy continued. "He won't be back for a few hours. He told us not to let strangers in the house."

Against his better judgement, Tony dared the question, "Then why didn't you say anything when I came in?"

"Porque usted es Mexicano," ("Because you are Mexican")The older boy looked up and responded in Spanish.

"Sí," ("Yes")Tony nodded, unable to think of what else to say, "soy Mexicano." ("I am Mexican") Before the boys went back to their video games, he asked, "I'm kind of on a tight schedule. I'm supposed to get some kind of remote or computer chip or something from your dad. Do you know where it might be?"

The younger boy tossed him the third DS from the table. "Do you know the password?" He questioned, looking back at his Mario cart game.

"Password?" Tony breathed.

"Yeah," One of the boys replied, "Dad spends a lot of time on it, so we thought it must be mad fun. When we tried to play it, though, it wouldn't let us on it without the password. That's when Adai and I figured it must be something important from work."

The younger boy, Adai, nodded. "That's why when you said 'computer chip' I thought of that. He uses those a lot. Usually he just calls them 'chips,' though, it really confuses Shiana, the little one." He pointed to the little girl sleeping next to him. "She just turned two. She thinks he's talking about chips that you eat."

"It's not her fault, though." The older boy pointed out defensively, "She's still little. Illianiz just started understanding everything." He quickly explained, "She's not stupid either. Just little."

"I know." Tony smiled at him, "I have a little girl, too. I understand."

"That doesn't mean anything," The older boy eyed him skepticly, "Papá has four kids, but he still gets mad at the girls about stuff like that all the time."

"When Shianna gets confused with words, he calls her a 'stupid bitch' and tells her to go away." Adai agreed, "Miguel always helps, though. When papá makes her cry, he sneaks her a popcicle or gives her a piece of the candy we saved for them from Halloween."

While they were talking to him, Tony opened the 'DS' and realized that the boys were probably right. "Listen boys, I've got to get back to work, but I've got some more questions for you. Can you come with me?"

"We can't leave the girls." Miguel didn't even look up.

"We could take them with us, then." Tony said, "I've really got to talk to you two. It's important."

"Fine, but if papá gets home and is mad, you have to take the credit for us being gone." Miguel negociated, "Otherwise he might hurt the girls."

"But they're asleep!" He exclaimed incredulously, "He can't--"

"Is it a deal or not?" Adai asked toughly.

"Don't worry. I'll take the blame if your father finds out. I promise." Gently, he picked up the bigger of the girls as Miguel did the same with Shianna and guided the boys out to the SUV.

"¿Quién es él?" ("Who is he")Miguel asked Tony when John got in the passenger seat.

"Él trabaja con migo," ("He works with me")Tony replied.

"¿Y él?" ("And him?")Miguel questioned suspiciously when Jacked walked got in the back seat with the kids.

"Me llamo Jack Bauer," ("My name is Jack Bauer") Jack responded, suprising the boys, "Trabajo con Tony en CTU." ("I work with Tony at CTU.")

"¿CTU?"

"Eso es lo que llamamos nuestro trabajo," ("That is what we call our job") Tony interrupted, "No atraemos tan la suspicacia." ("So we don't attract suspicion")

"Anybody want to tell me what's going on?" John asked, but no one said anything, so he just sat back in his seat.

"Michelle, Quintanilla is on line one. He says he wants to talk to you on a secure line." Morris told her.

"Get a tap on this conversation, Morris." She ordered.

"Already done." He told her, picking up a phone at a nearby station.

When he nodded to her, she picked up her phone and said, "Michelle Dessler."

"Get Morris O'Brian off the phone." He directed, "I'll know if you don't."

She hesitated, then covered up the receiver, "Morris," She pleaded, and he hung up his phone.

"I want the remote and my boys back." He stated. "Have your husband bring them back to my house and leave them exactly where they were within the hour."

"Mr. Quintanilla, we can't just give them back to a known terrorist," She said, though it seemed obvious. He was silent for a few minutes. "Mr. Quintanilla? Mr. Quintanilla?"

"Mommy?"


	7. Chapter 7

**MnTluva4eva: Thanks, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**saturn567: Yeah... they got Hailey. Or did they? jk. they did. Sorry, I'm really sarcastic today. I don't know why.**_**  
**_

_**Before I begin the chapter, I'd just like to give a little shout out to one of the 24 stories I've enjoyed. It's called 'Time to Save the World' by LostBluePhantom. Read it if you get a chance. And if you don't I will never forgive you. Ever. jk. I will. But it will take years of therapy. And a vacation to the Bahamas. On second thought, don't read it. Just save your money and get me that vacation.**_

_**Disclaimer: 24 is mine. Really, it is. And i'm a millionaire, too. Aren't I lucky. Or not. **_

_"I want the remote and my boys back." He stated. "Have your husband bring them back to my house and leave them exactly where they were within the hour."_

_"Mr. Quintanilla, we can't just give them back to a known terrorist," She said, though it seemed obvious. He was silent for a few minutes. "Mr. Quintanilla? Mr. Quintanilla?"_

_"Mommy?"_

Michelle fell backwards, unable to keep her balance, and landed in a hard office chair. "Mommy?" The small voice continued. "Are woo theowe?"

"Yes, I'm here." She managed to choak out.

"I'm scawed, can woo come get me?" Hailey pleaded, but Michelle didn't get a chance to respond.

"That's enough," Alejandro said, ripping the phone from Haileys small grasp, "If you don't comply with my demands, I'll kill her. If you understand, say 'It is the United States' policy not to negociate with terrorists.'"

Michelle gulped, then repeated horsely, "It is the United States' policy not to negociate with terrorists."

"Good," He grinned, "I want you to call your husband and tell him to leave the boys and the remote exactly where he left them. If it's not done within the hour, your daughter will be dead by sunrise. After you talk to your husband, I want you to call me back at this number on a secure line. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Michelle's mind was running a million miles a minute as she hung up the phone. When Tony's life was at stake, she hadn't been able to sacrifice the country for him, but could she now? She had to, it was her daughter. But when both she and her husband had been held hostage, CTU had found out and it had turned out alright both times. She couldn't take the risk. But could she really sacrifice the well being of her country? The country she had known, loved, and served her entire life? _It's Hailey,_ a sad, melodic voice in her head told her, _You have to._ And she knew the voice was right. As much as she loved her husband, she knew, in the end, he would have wanted her to do exactly what she did. He would have given his life for his country in an instant, just as she would. But Hailey was just an innocent child. _Your innocent child._ The voice chimed.

When Morris spoke to her, she was so preoccupied his words sounded like jibberish at first. "What?" She asked.

"I said, 'What did he want?'" Morris said in that annoyed, charming voice only he managed to pull off without sounding like a pompus idiot.

"He wanted his sons and the remote back." Michelle shook the thoughts out of her head. "I told her we don't negociate with terrorists."

"You mean 'him'?" Morris questioned suspiciously.

"What?" Michelle asked for the second time.

"You said 'I told _her_ we don't negociate with terrorists.' You ment 'him'."

"'Him'" Michelle shrugged, "Right, that's what I ment."

"Are you alright, darling?" Morris pressed. "You seem different than before you got that phone call."

Of course I do, she thought sarcastically, I just found out my daughter is being heald at gunpoint. "Thanks for your concern, Morris, but I'm fine, really." She comforted him, "If you'll excuse me, I need to call my husband."

"If you're sure," He sighed, stepping out of her way.

"Thank you," she habitually replied.

The second she knew she was alone, she flipped open her phone and pressed '2' on speed dial.

"Almeida." The familiar voice reached into her soul and pulled out the deep pain she hadn't fully grasped until she heard his voice. It was like she had just been hit by a bus, the weight of her emotions were the heaviest she'd ever felt. Her heart felt heavy and empty at the same time, filled with the dark, cold anguish only a mother can feel for her child. She closed her eyes, trying to control this powerful emotion. "Hello?" His voice brought her back to consiousness.

"Tony." She choaked.

"Michelle?" Tony's voice gave her the strength she needed and she was finally able to pull herself together, "Are you alright?"

"Tony." She said more firmly this time, "Do you trust me?"

"Of course." He didn't even consider her question before answering.

"I need you to go back to Alejandro Quintanilla's house and put the boys and the remote exactly where you found them." She ordered.

"Michelle..." Tony reasoned.

"Tony," Her voice softened, "They have Hailey."

It was like a dagger was plunged into his heart. After a moment, he asked softly so John and Jack couldn't hear him, "What about the girls?"

"The girls? What girls?" She questioned.

"He didn't even say anything about them? That son of a--" Tony abruptly, remembering that Miguel and Adai were in the car with him, not to mention John and Jack, who he would have to somehow trick into going back without too much of a fight.

"Tony?" She asked softly.

"What?" His tone softened to match her's.

"You have less than an hour before he kills her."

He was silent for a few minutes, consitering what he could do. Without putting the phone in his lap, he reached slowly for the gun at his belt. "Don't even think about it, Tony." Jack said, aiming his own gun at Tony's head. All Michelle could hear were muffled voices.

"Jack, Jack," Tony shook his head, "You don't understand. I have to."

Full of adrenaline, he pulled his gun up and aimed it at Jack. A single shot rang through the car.

"TONY!" Michelle screamed into the reciever.

**Sorry guys, short chapter. I just wanted to leave it like that, on sort of a cliffhanger. Did Tony shoot Jack? Is Jack dead? Did Jack shoot Tony? Is Tony dead? Tune in next time! jk**

**PS I just got a myspace that has a preview of chapter 8 and pics of the people i envisioned for each of the characters. There's a link in my 'author profile' Check it out if you get a chance. Or if you don't, check it out anyways. Because if you don't you're not invited to my birthday party. jk  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**LostBluePhantom: Thank _you_ for reviewing _Welome Back_! You'll see about that other part.**

**SerinS: Thanks!**

**saturn567: Sometimes... I was in a really sarcastic mood when I wrote the last chapter...**

**Maverick500: Thanks! You'll see about Tony...**

**I just want to say thank you so so much to all my reviewers... you're so supportive and you really make me want to write as much as I can (as hard as it is sometimes... I get really bad writers block sometimes... like on this chapter...)**

**Also, Check out my myspace... you can access it from my profile or type in my friend id on myspace, which is 247922237**

**got background info on some of the new characters, previews, pictures, questions... check it out and add me as a friend if you have myspace...**

_"You have less than an hour before he kills her."_

_He was silent for a few minutes, consitering what he could do. Without putting the phone in his lap, he reached slowly for the gun at his belt. "Don't even think about it, Tony." Jack said, aiming his own gun at Tony's head. All Michelle could hear were muffled voices._

_"Jack, Jack," Tony shook his head, "You don't understand. I have to."_

_Full of adrenaline, he pulled his gun up and aimed it at Jack. A single shot rang through the car._

_"TONY!" Michelle screamed into the reciever._

"AHHHHH!" Michelle heard a male voice yell, tires squeal, and little kids crying, but she couldn't make out what anyone on the other end was saying. "Jack, you son of a bitch!" Tony yelled, swerving off the road and slamming on the breaks saving them by barely an inch from hitting a tree.

"Tony!" Michelle shouted, "Tony! What's going on? Tony!"

"Damnit!" He swore, lifting the phone to his ear, "Jack shot me!"

"Are you alright?" She questioned impatiently.

"Fine," He hissed, glaring at Jack, "It went through my arm. In and out. I'm trying to stop the bleeding."

"Tony," She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, "You need to get those boys back. Soon."

"I know." He almost whispered. "I'll call you in a little bit."

"Okay," Michelle murmered.

"I love you." He said meaningfuly before hanging up.

"I love you too." She sighed. "Bye."

"Tony," Jack glared at him once he said goodbye and hung up with his wife. "What the hell were you doing?"

"I have to do this." Tony said with more resolution than even he knew he had. "I have to."

"What are you talking about?"

"Jack," Tony hung his head, then looked up at his friend straight in the eyes. "They have Hailey."

Michelle strummed her fingers anxiously on her desk. She had files to decrypt and information to gather, but it was hard to get her head around anything right now. When she finally thought she was close to decrypting one of the files, she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Here's the information you asked for on Quintanilla." Morris softly shut the door behind him and dropped a folder on her desk. "Most of it's pretty basic, but we were able to connect him to a few known terrorists. None of the extensive military or plane knowledge he would need to operate the remote. He's working with someone."

"Who did you connect him to?" Michelle inquired, skimming through the folder.

"He was briefly involved in some of the drug trafficing of the Salazars, but that was when he was still a minor." Morris replied. "A few other small groups, but not enough to raise any red flags."

"So why did he get his hands on the remote anyway?" She questioned frustratedly.

"I have no idea, but I believe the better question would be 'how did he get his hands on the remote?'" Morris slid into a chair across the desk from her.

"Mmm." She mumbled in partial agreement, thinking.

"Michelle, what is going on?" Morris questioned for the second time.

"Alejandro Quintanilla somehow got his hands on a remote that controls a Necrotoxin bomb. My husband, your wife, Jack Bauer, Selene Wendell, you, and I are secretly rogue to prevent a mole from infiltrating our operation, and I don't even know if it makes sense to be secretly rogue."

"Yeah, got that part, thanks." Morris rolled his eyes, "The part I don't get is why you're keeping something from us. None of us are moles, so why are you being so secrative?"

"Morris, go back to your station." Michelle ordered. "I'm sick of your interrogation."

"All right." He sighed, standing and crossing the room to leave. "I'll be at my station if you need anything."

"Pull over." Jack directed Tony, who didn't have much of a choice with a gun pointed at his head.

Angrily, Tony spun the wheel around and sped through a lane of traffic, skidding to a halt in the median. "When it was Michelle, it was one thing, but Jack!" He slammed the door as he got out of the SUV. "She's just a little girl! She doesn't work for CTU! She's completely innocent!"

"John, get in the driver's seat." Jack ordered. "Tony, you get in the passanger's seat." Quickly, everyone did as they were told. "Now, John," Jack continued, "Turn around, and go back to the house." Once they began driving, Jack explained. "When we get there, I'm going to take the remote, Miguel, and Adai back where they were. Tony and John are going drive back to CTU and say the boys escaped with the remote. Boys, I'm going to stay with you, but no one, I mean NO ONE, can know I'm there, is that clear?"

"Yes." Adai replied quickly.

"What about the girls?" Miguel questioned.

Jack exchanged a quick glance with his old friend and softened his tone, "They'll be safe with Tony. Probably safer than if they came with us."

"Promise?" asked Adai suspiciously.

"I promise." Tony turned to face the little boy. "As long as they're with me, nothing is going to happen to them."

When they arrived at the house, everything was exactly as they left it. Silently, the boys went back to where they were, picked up their games, and absently started pressing buttons, looking over their shoulders and jumping a half a foot every time they heard a noise.

Finally, they heard the back door slam and their father rummaging through the fridge. The beer top jingled as it hit the granite countertop and the world seemed to be moving in slow motion as his boots squeeked towards the living room.


End file.
